青木リカです。よろしく！

Meredtih Talusan wrote a beautiful article on a project that I am part of. ““Queer Check-Ins”…curated by the poet Franny Choi, brings together 12 other queer and trans Asian-American poets to read their poetry over videos drawn from their lives. Part of an ongoing digital exhibition called “A Day in the Queer Life of Asian Pacific America,” […]

Los Angeles City College is a few miles away from me, and literally a couple of blocks from my old apartment. However, I can’t clearly remember the last time I had been on its campus. However, thanks to Sue Landers and Lambda Literary, I was invited to speak and read as part of their book […]

So, this was something to wake up to. My friend Kay Ulanday Barrett had posted on their site that they had been one of “9 Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Writers You Should Know” in Vogue. I wrote a big congratulations–and then they said I was one of the nine, as well. So gosh! Wow! One […]

This November, I am proud to be presenting at Open by Riot Laughter—archiving the resistance, divestment & transcendence of gender It’s a workshop by Winter Tangerine for trans/gender non-conforming writers. I am super excited! My talk will be called: “Where Are You Pointing That Flash?” and will discussing we position ourselves relative to our work. My lecture will […]

After the holidays, I’ll be at The Huntington Library to help with something really special–WriteGirl Poetry Workshop! http://www.writegirl.org/workshops/ “Under the guidance of mentors and acclaimed poets, WriteGirl teens will spend the day learning how to craft their ideas into poems, while being inspired by the beauty of the gardens. We expect 100 teens and 100 […]

YAY! I am writing a children’s book! I was asked to write a children’s book for Flamingo Rampant Press, which is geared toward families with LGBTIQ members. I have decided to write a book about a young child visiting the planets. I have always been fascinated by how different each of the planets is, and want […]

I was asked this summer to write a piece by the wonderful Franny Choi. I liked this project because it allowed me to reflect on my life and world in a way that is very different from prose. It’s interesting passing middle age as a TWOC, and occasionally lonely as heck. I wanted to share […]

So, this was something to wake up to. My friend Kay Ulanday Barrett had posted on their site that they had been one of “9 Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Writers You Should Know” in Vogue. I wrote a big congratulations–and then they said I was one of the nine, as well. So gosh! Wow! One […]

This November, I am proud to be presenting at Open by Riot Laughter—archiving the resistance, divestment & transcendence of gender It’s a workshop by Winter Tangerine for trans/gender non-conforming writers. I am super excited! My talk will be called: “Where Are You Pointing That Flash?” and will discussing we position ourselves relative to our work. My lecture will […]

This past Spring, I returned to my MFA Program to read and answer questions. This was one of the most meaningful readings of my life. After leaving Cornell, my life did not exactly follow the path I would have guessed. But I somehow kept writing. And, as it always has, writing sustained me. I am […]

This past October, I had the pleasure of addressing the Southern Buddhist Conference. I was asked to talk about my experiences as a transgender person who also has roots in the Buddhist church. As I get older, I find my ties to my past become not stronger, but more evident. As the world washes away […]

I am looking forward to this reading because it was so improbable. I was a judge for a literary contest, and after our panel presentation at the AWP, Tobi Harper from Quill/Red Hen, asked if I wanted to read at the Pasadena Litfest. Sometimes, things click, and all the hard work pays off, and people […]

So last Thursday, I visited Pasadena to speak at PCC as the Visiting API Scholar. Thank you to Kirsten Ogden and Mikage Kuroki for their warmth and hospitality. Whenever I combine API and queer experiences, I notice such an outpouring of sharing and support from people who find themselves juggling identities from one community to […]

1. See the nice bitter melons* at the store, and think, “Wow, I should get some–they are healthy and I think I can prepare them well.” 2. Buy bitter melons and place them in fridge. 3, 4, 5. Open fridge, see bitter melons, and think, “Well, I am not exactly sure how to make these; […]